Information processor, information processing method and medium recording information processing method

ABSTRACT

As for a region in relation to a secondary defect, a recording means such as a memory or the like is separately used to carry out a recording and reproducing process. Thus, even when an exchange allocating process is carried out so as to ensure an access with a high reliability, data may be processed continuously.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention may be applied to a case in which in an opticaldisc apparatus and a magnetic disc apparatus, for example, such as ahard disc apparatus for recording a video data and the like, an exchangeallocating process is carried out to thereby reserve an access having ahigh reliability.

2. Background Art

Conventionally, as an apparatus for recording an audio data and a videodata (hereafter, referred to as an AV data), a video tape recorder usinga magnetic tape as a recording medium has been widely used. Such a videotape recorder is configured such that the AV data inputted in timeseries is divided by a field or frame unit of the video data, andobliquely recorded on the magnetic tape.

On the other hand, a personal computer is configured so as to use a harddisc apparatus and then record an application program and the like.Then, the hard disc apparatus has been sharply made denser and smaller.

In such a hard disc apparatus, it is connected to a personal computerthrough an interface, such as ATA (AT Attachment), SCSI (Small ComputerSystem Interface) or the like, and used as a peripheral of the personalcomputer, and the data is managed at a sector unit, and an exchangingprocess of a defective region, an error correcting process, a retryingprocess and the like are carried out to thereby enable the data recordedon the hard disc to be reproduced at an extremely high accuracy.

With regard to the exchanging process of the defective region amongthem, the hard disc apparatus is configured so as to carry out two kindsof processes so that it copes with the defect of the hard disc. That is,in the defects induced in the hard disc, there are a primary defect anda secondary defect. Among them, the primary defect is the defect alreadyinduced at a time of manufacturing and shipping, and the secondarydefect is induced because of aged deterioration.

The hard disc apparatus carries out a verifying process at the time ofthe manufacturing to detect the defective region caused by the primarydefect at a sector unit and then register a physical address of thisdetected defective sector in a primary defect list. The hard discapparatus, when a write command or a read command is inputted from ahost computer, converts a logical address set for this command into thephysical address to then access the hard disc. At this time, the harddisc apparatus converts the logical address into the physical address byreferring to the primary defect list and thereby jumping over thedefective sector and then carrying out the access (a so-called slippingprocess). Thus, the hard disc apparatus is configured so as to cope withthe primary defect. This process is characterized in that since it isthe process for jumping over the defective sector and carrying out onlythe access, the change in data transfer speed caused by the presence orabsence of the defective sector is slight.

On the other hand, the hard disc apparatus copes with the secondarydefect by carrying out an exchange allocating process. Here, theexchange allocating process is the process for allocating the defectivesector to a sector of an change region that is a region for a spare seton an information recording surface. By the way, such a secondary defectis detected by carrying out a writing and verifying process at a time ofwriting, or a process at a time of reading out.

That is, the hard disc apparatus carries out this exchanging process,for example, in accordance with a read verify command (a command tocarry out only an operation for verifying data without carrying out datatransfer to a host) from a host apparatus. The hard disc apparatus, inthis exchanging process, firstly detects an occurrence of an error indata portion and an ID portion at each sector. Actually, the hard discapparatus establishes a standard for an ID detector in relation to aprocess for detecting those errors, an ECC error detecting process, aretrying process and the like. On the basis of this standard, it judgesa reproduction result at the sector unit to thereby detect a sector thatis poor in reliability. The hard disc apparatus, when detecting such asector having the poor reliability, defines this sector as the defectivesector caused by the secondary defect. The hard disc apparatusre-records the data recorded in the defective sector detected asmentioned above in a sector of an change region, and correlates thephysical sector in this exchange region with the physical address ofthis defective sector, and then registers in a secondary defect list.The hard disc apparatus records this secondary defect list on the harddisc, and then completes the exchange allocating process.

The hard disc apparatus accesses the sector of the correspondingexchange region instead of the defective sector, in accordance with thissecondary defect list if such an exchange allocating process is carriedout, and thereby reserves the reliability. Thus, when the hard discapparatus reproduces continuous sectors, if a part of the continuoussectors is the defective sector, it reproduces the continuous sectorsimmediately before the defective sector, and after that, it carries outa seeking operation and reproduces the corresponding sector of theexchange region (implying the exchange sector), and then seeks thesector subsequent to the original defective sector, and reproduces thissubsequent sector. Hence, in the case of this exchange allocatingprocess, it has a problem that a drop in the data transfer speed isremarkable, as compared with the case of the slipping process.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the hard discapparatus, with regard to the reading out process when such an exchangeallocating process is carried out. By the way, in the hard discapparatus 1, an interface control circuit (IF control) 2 is a hostinterface, and it receives data used for writing and a command from ahost apparatus, and outputs the data based on an access and a statuscorresponding to this command.

A recording/reproducing system 3 is provided with a read write datachannel with regard to a signal process of a magnetic head and a servosystem serving as a driving system. The recording/reproducing system 3accesses a hard disc 5 in accordance with a physical address outputtedby a hard disc control circuit 4, and drives the magnetic head inaccordance with data outputted from a buffer memory 6, and then recordsthis data on the hard disc 5. Further, at a time of reading out, itperforms a signal process on an output signal of the magnetic head, andreproduces the data recorded on the hard disc 5, and then outputs to thebuffer memory 6 or the hard disc control circuit 4. Therecording/reproducing system 3 carries out this process, and reproducesa secondary defect list LST recorded on an inner circumference of thehard disc 5, when a power supply is turned on, and then reports to thehard disc control circuit 4.

The buffer memory 6 tentatively stores the output data of therecording/reproducing system 3, and carries out an error correctingprocess and the like, and then outputs through a host interface 2 to ahost apparatus. By the way, at a time of recording, reversely to theabove-mentioned case, the buffer memory 6 transiently stores the dataoutputted from the host apparatus through the host interface 2, andoutputs to the recording/reproducing system 3.

The hard disc control circuit 4 analyzes the command inputted from thehost interface 2, and controls the entire operation in the hard discapparatus 1. In the process when the power supply is turned on, the harddisc control circuit 4 controls the recording/reproducing system 3, andinstructs it to reproduce the secondary defect list LST, and thenobtains the secondary defect list LST from the recording/reproducingsystem 3. The hard disc control circuit 4 stores this secondary defectlist LST in a built-in memory.

In the condition that the secondary defect list LST is stored asmentioned above, the hard disc control circuit 4, when a read command isinputted through the host interface 2, converts a logical address addedto this command into a physical address through a process in an addressconverter 4A, and instructs the recording/reproducing system 3 to carryout the reproduction based on this physical address. At this time, thehard disc control circuit 4 generates the physical address so as toaccess the corresponding exchange sector, for the defective sector, inaccordance with the secondary defect list LST.

That is, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing processing procedure of the harddisc control circuit 4 in relation to the read command. The hard disccontrol circuit 4, when the read command is inputted from the hostapparatus, proceeds from step SP1 to step SP2. Then, it receives thisread command, and converts a logical address based on a parameter setfor this read command into a physical address of the hard disc 5, at anext step SP3.

In succession, at step SP4, the hard disc control circuit 4 refers tothe secondary defect list LST stored in accordance with the physicaladdress converted as mentioned above, and judges whether or not thesector based on the access includes the secondary defective sector, at anext step SP5. Here, if the sector based on the access does not includethe secondary defective sector, the hard disc control circuit 4 proceedsto step SP6, and controls the entire operation in accordance with thethus-converted physical address, and then reads out the data instructedby the host apparatus from the hard disc 5, for the sector of thisphysical address.

Moreover, the hard disc control circuit 4 stores the data read out asmentioned above, in the buffer memory 6 at a next step SP7. The harddisc control circuit 4 outputs the data stored in the buffer memory 6 tothe host apparatus at a next step SP8, and ends this processingprocedure at step SP9.

On the other hand, if the sector based on the access includes thesecondary defective sector, the hard disc control circuit 4 proceeds tothe step SP5 to step SP10. Here, the hard disc control circuit 4converts the physical address of the defective sector into the physicaladdress of the exchange sector. Moreover, the hard disc control circuit4 instructs it to access the hard disc 5 in accordance with the physicaladdress including the physical address of the exchange sector asmentioned above, at a next step SP11.

Consequently, in the hard disc apparatus 1, if the access based on thisread command includes the defective sector, the continuous sectorsimmediately before the defective sector are reproduced to then accessthe exchange sector at the defective sector and obtain a reproductiondata, and after that, the sector subsequent to the defective sector isaccessed to obtain the reproduction data. The hard disc control circuit4, when reproducing the data from the hard disc 5 as mentioned above,proceeds to the step SP7, and records in a buffer memory 20, and thenoutputs to the host apparatus at the next step SP8, and ends thisprocessing procedure.

Consequently, the hard disc apparatus is configured so as to seek themagnetic head before and after the defective sector, in accessing thecontinuous sectors, if such an exchange allocating process is carriedout. Thus, in the hard disc apparatus, respective seeking times androtation waiting times for a next sector are induced before and afterthis defective sector, which results in a case that it is difficult toreproduce the continuous data.

Incidentally, even in recording the AV data, it may be considered toapply the hard disc apparatus and thereby fabricate a small recorderthat may attain the recording of a long time, instead of the video taperecorder. In this case, in the hard disc apparatus, it is required thatthe continuity of the data has priority over the reliability of thedata.

However, in the hard disc apparatus, there may be a fear that it isdifficult to reproduce the continuous data by the execution of theexchange allocating process because of the above-mentioned secondarydefect. For this reason, if the conventional hard disc apparatus ismerely applied to the recording/reproducing of the AV data, thisapplication may lead to the fear of the occurrence of the fatal picturedefect.

As one method of solving this problem, a method of carrying out theexchange allocating process at a plurality of sector units is furtherproposed (a so-called linear changing method). However, the case of thismethod requires a large number of exchange regions, which results in aproblem that the information recording surface of the hard disc may notbe effectively used corresponding to it, and as well as other similarproblems.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is conceived in view of the above-mentionedproblems. The present invention proposes an information processingapparatus, an information processing method and an information recordingmedium, in which data may be continuously processed even if an exchangeallocating process is carried out while reserving an access of a highreliability.

To solve the above-mentioned problems, in the present invention, it isapplied to an information processing apparatus, which is provided with:a defect judgment means for judging a physical address based on anaccess command by using a physical address of a region in relation to asecondary defect as a reference; and an exchanging processing means forcarrying out the process according to the access command by using apredetermined recording means that is different from a disc typerecording medium, for the region in relation to the secondary defect, inthe physical address based on the access command, in accordance with ajudged result by the defect judgment means.

In the physical address based on the access command, as for the regionin relation to the secondary defect, this includes the exchangingprocessing means for carrying out the process based on the accesscommand by using the predetermined recording means different from thedisc type recording medium. Thus, for the region in relation to thesecondary defect, without accessing the change regions separately set onthe disc type recording medium, one by one, this predetermined recordingmeans may be used to record or reproduce the data allocated to theregion in relation to the secondary defect. Thus, even if the exchangeallocating process is carried out, the data may be continuouslyprocessed.

Further, this is applied to an information processing method or arecording medium for recording the information processing method whichis provided with: a step of a defect judgment for judging a physicaladdress based on an access command by using a physical address of aregion in relation to a secondary defect as a reference; and a step ofan exchanging process for carrying out the process according to theaccess command by using a predetermined recording means that isdifferent from a disc type recording medium, for the region in relationto the secondary defect, in the physical address based on the accesscommand, in accordance with a judged result by the defect judgment step.

In the physical address based on the access command, as for the regionin relation to the secondary defect, this includes the step of theexchanging process for carrying out the process based on the accesscommand by using the predetermined recording means different from thedisc type recording medium. Thus, for the region in relation to thesecondary defect, without accessing the change regions separately set onthe disc type recording medium, one by one, this predetermined recordingmeans may be used to record or reproduce the data allocated to theregion in relation to the secondary defect. Thus, even if the exchangeallocating process is carried out, the data may be continuouslyprocessed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration corresponding to aread command of a conventional hard disc apparatus;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a read commandof a hard disc control circuit in the hard disc apparatus in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a hard disc apparatus according to afirst embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a table used to illustrate a recording region of a hard discin the hard disc apparatus of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a table showing a file management data recorded in a directoryarea of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a table showing a code recorded in an FAT area of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration corresponding to theread command of the hard disc apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when the hard disccontrol circuit in the hard disc apparatus of FIG. 7 is actuated;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing processing procedure of the read commandof the hard disc control circuit in the hard disc apparatus of FIG. 7;and

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration corresponding to aread command of a hard disc apparatus according to a second embodimentof the present invention.

BEST MODE OF EMBODYING THE INVENTION

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described belowin detail with reference to the drawings.

(1) First Embodiment

(1-1) Configuration of First Embodiment

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a hard disc apparatus according to thefirst embodiment of the present invention. The hard disc apparatus 11 ismounted in an image capturing apparatus, an AV apparatus 12 such as aSet-Top box or the like, a personal computer or the like, and it recordsvarious data outputted from those apparatuses. Further, when the harddisc apparatus 11 is mounted in those apparatuses or when it is removedfrom those apparatuses and mounted in another AV apparatus, anotherpersonal computer or the like, the recorded data is reproduced andoutputted.

For this reason, the hard disc apparatus 11 is held in the AV apparatusor the like in attachable and detachable manners, and it outputs andreceives text data or data in which AV data is compressed on the basisof a predetermined format or the like to and from those AV apparatuses12, and outputs and receives a control command, a status data, anaddress or the like, in association with the reception/output of thosedata, to and from those apparatuses. Moreover, it records those data ona hard disc 13, and reproduces and outputs the data recorded on the harddisc 13.

Here, the hard disc 13 is formatted as shown in FIG. 4. That is, in thehard disc 13, the information recording surface is divided into an innercircumference region and an outer circumference region. The innercircumference region is allocated to a system entry area. Further, theouter circumference region is allocated to data area.

Among them, the data area is subdivided into clusters, and the dataamount having the predetermined number of frames is used as a unit, andthe AV data is recorded in each cluster. By the way, in the presentembodiment, the hard disc 13 is configured such that the AV datacorresponding to one GOP is allocated to one cluster, if the AV data isrecorded as data-compressed on the basis of the format of MPEG (MovingPicture Experts Group).

Moreover, the hard disc 13 is configured such that the informationrecording surface is concentrically divided into a plurality of zones,and tracks in the respective zones are divided at a predetermined lengthin a circumferential direction, respectively, and divided into aplurality of sectors. In the hard disc 13 divided into the sectors asmentioned above, the physical addresses are defined on the basis ofsurface numbers of the information recording surface, track numberscontinuously allocated from the outer circumference of the informationrecording surface, and sector numbers to specify the sectors in therespective tracks. Moreover, a user data is file-managed on the basis ofthe logical addresses defined in turn from the outer circumference ofthe information recording surface, corresponding to the physicaladdress.

Here, the physical address is represented by a cluster number in which acluster, which is constituted from a set of a plurality of logicalsectors, is used as a unit. That is, the logical sector is the regioncorresponding to a recording unit of data in which a lead region of theinformation recording surface (the outermost circumference, in thiscase) is defined as a 0 sector. The present embodiment is configuredsuch that one physical sector may represent a logical sector number inaccordance with the following equation, corresponding to one logicalsector. By the way, here, the surface number, the track number and thesector number are based on the physical address.

$\begin{matrix}{{{Logical}\mspace{14mu}{Sector}\mspace{14mu}{Number}} = {{{Number}\mspace{14mu}{of}\mspace{14mu}{Sectors}\mspace{14mu}{per}\mspace{14mu}{One}\mspace{14mu}{Track} \times \left( {{{Surface}\mspace{14mu}{Number}} + {{Number}\mspace{14mu}{of}\mspace{14mu}{Surfaces} \times {Track}\mspace{14mu}{Number}}} \right)} + {{Sector}\mspace{14mu}{Number}} - 1}} & (1)\end{matrix}$

In this embodiment, the logical sector is configured such that data of512 bytes may be recorded in one logical sector in terms of the userdata, and one cluster is composed of a plurality of logical sectors. Bythe way, one cluster is typically composed of sectors as many as a powerof 2, and specified on the basis of a cluster number that is a series ofnumerals with a lead of a file area as 2, in the data area in which theuser data is recorded.

The data area is configured such that the cluster number is allocated toeach cluster defined as mentioned above, and the access may be done at acluster unit with this cluster number as a reference. By the way, inthis embodiment, the cluster number is represented by a hexadecimal typeof four digits.

On the other hand, the system entry area is further divided into a bootarea, an FAT (Fail Allocation table) area and a directory area, and thedata to define the structure of a disc is recorded in the boot area. Onthe other hand, the address information required to access the AV datarecorded in the data area and the like are recorded in the FAT area andthe directory area.

That is, a file name of each file recorded in the data area, a clusternumber of a lead cluster implying a recording start position of eachfile and the like are recorded in the directory area. On the other hand,a cluster number of each cluster subsequent to the lead cluster of eachfile and the like are recorded in the FAT area. Thus, the hard disc 13,after detecting the lead cluster number of a desired file name from thedirectory area, may detect the cluster numbers subsequent to this leadcluster number in turn from the FAT area and thereby detect theaddresses of the continuous clusters constituting one file.

Accordingly, in FIG. 4, if a file 1 is recorded in the clusters havingcluster numbers 1234 h to 1240 h of the data area, a code indicative ofthe cluster number 1234 h of a first cluster of the file 1 is recordedin the directory area, and the cluster numbers subsequent to thiscluster number 1234 h are further recorded in turn in the correspondingregion of the FAT area. By the way, in FIG. 4, EOF (End Of File) is theidentification information indicative of the final cluster in one file.

Specifically, the file management data having the configuration shown inFIG. 5 is recorded in the directory area, for each file recorded in thedata area. That is, in the file management data, the file name isallocated to 8 bytes from the top lead, and an extension identifier ofeach file is allocated to three bytes subsequent to them. Moreover, dataindicative of an attribute of the file is allocated to one bytesubsequent to them, and 10 bytes subsequent to it are allocated to datafor reservation. Further, two bytes subsequent to them are allocated todata for a recording start time, two bytes subsequent to them areallocated to data for the date and hour, and the cluster number implyingthe lead cluster number is allocated to two bytes subsequent to them. Bythe way, data of a file length is allocated to the last four bytes.

On the other hand, the FAT area (FIG. 4) is configured such that acluster address is allocated corresponding to the cluster number of thedata area, and the cluster number of the cluster subsequent to eachcluster address is recorded. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, predeterminedcodes among the codes that are not allocated to those cluster numbersare allocated to the identification information respectively indicativeof an empty region, a defective cluster and the EOF.

Thus, the hard disc 13 is configured so as to ensure the access to theFAT area and then the detection of the empty area in the data area.Further, it is configured so as to carry out the exchanging process withthe defective sector as a reference and further register the defectivesector by carrying out the retrying process through the writing andverifying operation at a time of the recording. Due to those processes,the hard disc 13 is configured so as to manage the information recordingsurface at a predetermined block unit, similarly to a file managingsystem applied to a personal computer.

The servo circuit 14 (FIG. 3) drives a motor (M) 16 in accordance withthe control of a hard disc control circuit 15, and therebyrotation-drives the hard disc 13 at a predetermined rotational speed.Further, the servo circuit 14 similarly drives a motor (M) 18 to therebyseek the magnetic head, and further carries out a tracking control.

A read write data channel 19 performs an encoding process on an outputdata of the hard disc control circuit 15, by using a method suitable forproperty of the present recording/reproducing system, under the controlof the hard disc control circuit 15, and generates the data in a bitseries, and then drives the magnetic head in accordance with this data.Further, at a time of the reproducing, the read write data channel 19performs a signal process on a reproduction signal obtained from themagnetic head, and generates a reproduction data, and then outputs thisreproduction data to the hard disc control circuit 15.

The hard disc control circuit 15 is a control circuit for managing thedata on the hard disc 13, and it controls the operation of the servocircuit 14 on the basis of the AV data inputted from the buffer memory20, and outputs this AV data to the read write data channel 19, andthereby records those AV data on the hard disc 13. Further, at the timeof the reproducing, it similarly controls the operation of the servocircuit 14, and outputs an output data of the read write data channel 19to the buffer memory 20, and then reproduces the data requested by ahost apparatus.

In those controls, when receiving a read verifying command from the hostapparatus through the interface control circuit 21, the hard disccontrol circuit 15 controls the entire operation so as to carry out theexchange allocating process, similarly to the case in the hard discapparatus based on the above-mentioned conventional configuration shownin FIG. 1. That is, the hard disc control circuit 15 sequentiallyaccesses the hard disc 13, and detects the defective sector, andre-records the data of this detected defective sector in the sector ofthe change region, and then records a secondary defect list on the harddisc 13. Further, for the reading writing command, which will bedescribed later, it uses the thus-recorded secondary defect list as areference, and accesses the hard disc 13.

The interface control circuit (IF control) 21 is configured from, forexample, an SCSI controller, an IDE controller, an ATA controller andthe like, and constitutes an input/output circuit for sending andreceiving the data, the control command, the address and the like to andfrom those AV apparatuses 12. For the AV data among them, the interfacecontrol circuit (IF control) 21 outputs to the hard disc control circuit15 the AV data received from the AV apparatus 12 through the buffermemory 20, at the time of the recording. Further, at the time of replay,it outputs to the AV apparatus 12 the AV data outputted from the harddisc control circuit 15, through the buffer memory 20.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing configuration of the hard discapparatus 11, with regard to the reading out process when the exchangeallocating process is carried out. In the hard disc apparatus 11, thehard disc control circuit 15 treats the data in relation to thedefective sector recorded in the exchange sector by using an exchangememory 15B that serves as a recording means different from the hard disc13, and thereby assuring the continuous processing of data. Here, theexchange memory 15B is comprised of a volatile memory (DRAM) built inthe hard disc control circuit 15.

For this reason, the hard disc control circuit 15, when the power isturned on, carries out processing procedure shown in FIG. 8, and storesdata that is previously recorded in the exchange sector of the hard disc13 in the exchange memory 15B in advance. Further, it obtains thesecondary defect list recorded on the hard disc 13, and correlates aphysical address of the defective sector defined in this secondarydefect list with a memory address of the exchange memory 15B, in whichthe corresponding data is recorded, and then stores it in the built-inmemory.

That is, when the power is turned on, the hard disc control circuit 15proceeds from step SP21 to step SP22, and controls the operation of theservo circuit 14, and then starts the rotation of the hard disc 13. Insuccession, the hard disc 5 proceeds to step SP23. Here, it controls theoperations of the read write data channel 19 and the servo circuit 14,and obtains the secondary defect list from the hard disc 13, and thenrecords it in the built-in memory.

Moreover, the hard disc control circuit 15 detects the physical addressof the exchange sector from the record of this secondary defect list, ata next step SP25, and instructs to access the hard disc 13 in accordancewith this detected physical address at a next step SP26, and thenreproduces the record of the exchange sector. The hard disc controlcircuit 15 records this reproduced data in the exchange memory 15B at anext step SP27.

The hard disc control circuit 15 then records the memory address of theexchange memory 15B, which is recorded as mentioned above, in thesecondary defect list stored in the memory while correlating it with thephysical address of the defective sector, and proceeds to step SP29, andthen ends this processing procedure. Thus, the hard disc control circuit15 carries out the process in advance, and thereby reproduces the recordof the exchange allocating process from the hard disc 13, and thenrecords the physical address of at least the defective sector, andfurther obtains the defect list.

The hard disc control circuit 15 judges the physical address based onthe access command, in accordance with the thus-obtained defect list,and uses the exchange memory 15B instead of the hard disc 13, for theregion in relation to the secondary defect, in the physical addressbased on the access command, and then carries out the process inrelation to the access command, and enables to effectively avoid theunnecessary time consumed by the seek processing, and thereby assuringthe continuous process of data.

That is, FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing processing procedure of the harddisc control circuit 15 when the read command is inputted from the hostapparatus 12. The hard disc control circuit 15, when the read command isinputted from the host apparatus, proceeds from step SP31 to step SP32,and receives this read command, and then converts the logical addressbased on the parameter set for this read command into the physicaladdress of the hard disc 13, at a next step SP33.

In succession, the hard disc control circuit 15 refers to a secondarydefect list LST1 stored in accordance with the thus-converted physicaladdress at step SP34, and judges whether or not the sector in relationto the instant access includes the secondary defective sector at a nextstep SP35. Here, if the sector in relation to the instant access doesnot include the secondary defective sector, the hard disc controlcircuit 15 proceeds to step SP36, and controls the entire operation inaccordance with the thus-converted physical address, and then reads outthe data requested by the host apparatus 12 from the hard disc 13, forthe sector of this physical address.

Further, the hard disc control circuit 15 stores in the buffer memory 20the data read out as mentioned above, at a next step SP37. The hard disccontrol circuit 15 outputs to the host apparatus 12 the data stored inthe buffer memory 20, at a next step SP38, and completes this processingprocedure at step SP39.

On the other hand, if the sector in relation to the instant accessincludes the secondary defective sector, the hard disc control circuit15 proceeds from step SP35 to step SP40. Here, the hard disc controlcircuit 15 refers to the secondary defect list LST1 stored in thememory, and converts the physical address of the defective sector intothe memory address of the exchange memory 15B. Further, the hard disccontrol circuit 15 accesses the exchange memory 15B in accordance withthe thus-detected memory address, at the next step SP41, and instructsto access the hard disc 13 in accordance with the physical addressesincluding the physical address of the defective sector.

Accordingly, in the hard disc apparatus 11, if the instant access basedon this read command includes the defective sector, after the continuoussectors immediately before the defective sector are reproduced, the datain the previously obtained exchange memory 15B is outputted for thedefective sector. After that, the sector subsequent to the defectivesector is accessed to then obtain the reproduction data. Thus, the harddisc control circuit 15 is configured so as to ensure the continuousdata to be outputted without any interruption.

On the other hand, if the write command is inputted from the hostapparatus 12, the hard disc control circuit 15 similarly generates thephysical address of the hard disc 13 in accordance with the parameterset for the command. Moreover, it judges whether or not based on thisphysical address, the defective sector is included in the access target.The hard disc control circuit 15 judges the physical sector of theaccess target as mentioned above, and instructs to write to the harddisc 13, similarly to the usual hard disc apparatus, except thedefective sector.

On the other hand, as for the defective sector, instead of the recordingto the exchange sector of the hard disc 13, the writing to the exchangememory 15B is instructed, and the memory address of the exchange memory15B written as mentioned above is further correlated with the physicaladdress of the corresponding defective sector and recorded in thesecondary defect list LST1. Thus, the hard disc apparatus 11 isconfigured so as to ensure continuous recording of data without anyinterruption even at time of the recording processing.

The hard disc control circuit 15, if the secondary defect list LST1 isupdated as mentioned above, records the data that corresponds to thedefective sector in the exchange memory 15B of the correspondingexchange sector, using latency of the command and during a series ofprocesses performed when the power is turned off. Thus, the hard disccontrol circuit 15 is configured so as to ensure accessing to the harddisc 13 by carrying out the above-mentioned series of processes, even ina case of an access after the power has turned on.

From those explanations, the hard disc control circuit 15 is configuredso as to constitute the exchange allocating processing means fordetecting the region in relation to the secondary defect from theinformation recording surface of the hard disc 13 and then setting theexchange region used in the recording/reproducing process instead ofsuch a region, together with the recording/reproducing system. Further,the hard disc control circuit 15 is configured so as to constitute thedefect judgment means for judging the physical address based on theaccess command by using the physical address of the region in relationto this secondary defect as the reference, and further constitute theexchanging processing means for carrying out the process for the accesscommand by using the exchange memory 15B serving as the predeterminedrecording means different from the disc type recording medium, for theregion in relation to the secondary defect, in the physical addressbased on the access command, in accordance with this judged result.

(2) Operation of First Embodiment

In the above-mentioned configuration, the hard disc apparatus 11 (FIG.3) is mounted in the imaging apparatus and the AV apparatus 12, forexample, such as the set top box and the like. When the power is turnedon, the data recorded in the system entry area of the hard disc 13 isloaded into the memory.

In the hard disc apparatus 11, when the write command is inputted fromthose AV apparatuses 12, the AV data inputted after this command isinputted to the read write data channel 19 through the hard disc controlcircuit 15. Here, the AV data is modulated in accordance with the formatsuitable for the recording. Then, the magnetic head is driven tosequentially record the AV data into the empty region of the hard disc13. At this time, in the hard disc apparatus 11, on the basis of thedata in the system entry area loaded into the memory, the empty regionsin the hard disc 13 are sequentially detected (FIG. 4 and FIG. 6), andthe AV data is sequentially recorded in those detected empty regions.Further, the data in the system entry area stored in the memory isupdated so as to correspond to this recording process (FIG. 5), and thesystem entry area in the hard disc 13 is updated so as to correspond tothe content in the memory.

In contrast with the above, when the read command is inputted, thereproduction signal obtained through the magnetic head is processed bythe read write data channel 19, and the AV data is reproduced. Then, theAV data is outputted through the hard disc control circuit 15 and theinterface control circuit 21 to the AV apparatus 12. At this time, inthe hard disc apparatus 11, the cluster numbers in which the AV data arerecorded are retrieved in turn by retrieving the data in the systementry area stored in the memory, and the physical addresses of thesectors in relation to these cluster numbers are detected in turn, andthe hard disc 13 is sequentially accessed in accordance with thosephysical addresses. Accordingly, the file requested by the AV apparatus12 is reproduced.

In the above cited processes, in the hard disc apparatus 11, the readingand verifying process are carried out to thereby detect a sector, inwhich an error rate in each of a sector ID portion and a data portion,is deteriorated to a certain standard or less, and a sector in which thenumber of the re-try repetitions is equal to or greater than apredetermined number of times. Accordingly, the defective sector causedby the secondary defect is detected. In this case, in the hard discapparatus 11, the exchange allocating process is carried out to therebyre-record the data of such a defective sector in the sector of thechange region and further record those relations on the innercircumference of the hard disc 13. Accordingly, in the hard discapparatus 11, the reliability of data may be ensured by preventing useof the sector whose reliability is deteriorated for future recording andreproducing operations.

In the hard disc apparatus 11 for carrying out the exchange allocatingprocess as in the typical hard disc apparatus through the same processas mentioned above, the process at time of the start-up (FIG. 6 and FIG.8) is carried out to thereby read out the record during the exchangingprocess recorded in hard disc 13 as mentioned above, and from therelation between the exchange sector and the defective sector based onthis record, the data recorded in the exchange sector is recorded in theexchange memory 15B that is built in the hard disc control circuit 15.Further, the relation between the memory address of this exchange memory15B and the defective sector is listed and then recorded in the memoryof the hard disc control circuit 15.

In the hard disc apparatus 11, by recording the data of the exchangesector in the exchange memory 15B as mentioned above, it is possible toprocess the access with regard to the defective sector utilizing thisexchange memory 15B instead of the exchange sector, and thereby enablingthe continuous data processing without any interruption.

That is, in the hard disc apparatus 11, when the physical address of thehard disc 13 is detected on the basis of the parameter set for thecommand, it is judged whether or not the sector based on this physicaladdress is the defective sector. In the case of the defective sector,the writing process and the reading out process are performed on theexchange memory 15B instead of the exchange sector. That is, at the timeof reading out processing, the data of the defective sector is outputtedin accordance with the access to the exchange memory 15B instead of theaccess to the exchange sector. Further, at the time of writingprocessing, the data of the defective sector is recorded in the exchangememory 15B instead of the recording to the exchange sector. After that,the data of the exchange memory 15B is re-recorded in the exchangesector.

Accordingly, in the hard disc apparatus 11, even if the exchangeallocating process is carried out to thereby ensuring the access withthe high reliability, the data may be processed continuously.

(1-3) Effect of First Embodiment

According to the above-mentioned configuration, as for the region inrelation to the secondary defect, the recording means such as the memoryor the like is separately used to carry out the recording andreproducing process. Thus, even if the exchange allocating process iscarried out to thereby ensuring the access with the high reliability,the data may be processed continuously.

At this time, the data already recorded in the region in relation to thesecondary defect is re-recorded in the exchange region set for the harddisc 13 by carrying out the exchange allocating process, and the dataalready recorded in this exchange region is re-recorded in the exchangememory 15B by carrying out the process at the time of start-up that isthe process performed in advance. Thus, as for the exchange allocatingprocess, it may be carried out through the processing procedure in theconventional hard disc apparatus. Accordingly, an overall configurationmay be simplified, and the data may be read out and outputtedcontinuously without any interruption.

Further, by carrying out such a process in advance for re-recording inthe exchange memory 15B at the time of start-up, the data recorded inthe system entry area may be processed together with another process tobe performed at the time of start-up, such as the process for loadinginto the hard disc control circuit 15 or the like. Accordingly, itbecomes possible to instantly start the access to the hard disc.

(2) Second Embodiment

In this embodiment, the region used in the exchange allocating processis set on a recording means different from the hard disc 13. Here, asshown in FIG. 10 in comparison with FIG. 7, a hard disc apparatus 31 inaccordance with this embodiment is equally configured to the hard discapparatus 11 according to the first embodiment except that theconfiguration of a hard disc control circuit 35 is different.

That is, in the hard disc apparatus 31, the hard disc control circuit 35detects in turn the secondary defective sectors in accordance with theread verify command, similarly to the hard disc control circuit 15, andcarries out the exchange allocating process, and then re-records thedata of the defective sector in the exchange memory 15B composed ofnon-volatile memories, instead of the change region on the hard disc 13,in this exchange allocating process. Further, the physical address ofthe defective sector re-recorded as mentioned above and the memoryaddress of the exchange memory 15B are listed to then records as thesecondary defect list on the hard disc 13.

Further, when the power is turned on, a secondary defect list LST2recorded on the hard disc 13 as mentioned above is loaded and stored.The hard disc control circuit 35 detects in turn the physical addressesof the sectors in relation to the accesses in accordance with an accesscommand from the host apparatus 12, and carries out the accessingprocess through the exchange memory 35B if this physical address is theaddress in relation to the defective sector. That is, if the accesscommand is the read command, instead of the defective sector, it outputsthe corresponding data recorded in this exchange memory 35B to the hostapparatus. On the other hand, in a case of the write command, it recordsthe data in the exchange memory 35B, instead of the defective sector.

According to the configuration of FIG. 10, the exchange memory servingas the predetermined recording means different from the hard disc isused to carry out the process for the access command, and the dataalready recorded in the region in relation to the secondary defect isdirectly re-recorded in this exchange memory to thereby enable thereduction in the time necessary for the exchange allocating process.Further, at the time of the power turn-on, the process for re-recordingof each record of the exchange sectors in the change sectors one by onemay be omitted thereby enabling reduction of the start-up time at timeof the power turn-on. Further, the information recording surface on thehard disc may be effectively utilized because of the omission of theexchange region on the hard disc.

(3) Third Embodiment

In this embodiment, the secondary defect list at each file unit isrecorded on the hard disc under the configuration according to the firstembodiment. Further, instead of the transfer of the data to the exchangememory from the exchange sector when the power is turned on, if the fileis specified by the read command, the data is transferred to theexchange memory from the exchange sector for this file, and the accessto this file is then started.

As for loading of the secondary defect list from the hard disc 13, theloading is performed when the file is specified by the read commandinstead of the time that the power is turned on, and the secondarydefect list is loaded only for the portion of the corresponding file.

Accordingly, this embodiment is configured so as to ensure effectsimilar to the first embodiment even if the exchange memory isconfigured at a smaller memory capacity. Further, it is configured suchthat the processes at the power turned-on may be reduced thereby makingthe start-up time shorter.

(4) Fourth Embodiment

In this embodiment, the access command is selectively processed by usingthe exchange memory depending on a type of file, under the configurationaccording to the first or second embodiment. That is, as describedabove, it is characterized in that although the process of thecontinuous data is preferentially processed for the AV data, importanceis not given to the above-mentioned data continuity in another text dataor the like. Thus, in this embodiment, the hard disc control circuitjudges the type of file, on the basis of an extension identifier of thefile, and selectively carries out the accessing process by using theexchange memory, only for the file including video data.

If the process is selectively switched depending on the type of file asmentioned above, the effect similar to the first or second embodimentmay be correspondingly obtained by effective use of the exchange memory.

(5) Other Embodiments

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiments, the case is described inwhich the exchange memory is composed of the memories built in the harddisc control circuit. However, the present invention is not limited tothis case. The partial region of the buffer memory or the like may beused to configure the exchange memory, and various recording meansdifferent from the hard disc may be widely applied.

In the above-mentioned embodiments, the case is described in which thesecondary defect list is recorded on the hard disc. However, the presentinvention is not limited to this case. It may be recorded in anotherrecording means.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiments, the case is described inwhich the secondary defect is processed at the sector unit. However, thepresent invention is not limited to this case. For example, the presentinvention may be widely applied to the case in which it is processed atthe cluster unit.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiments, the case is described inwhich the present invention is applied to the information processorserving as the hard disc apparatus. However, the present invention isnot limited to this case. It may be widely applied to the informationprocessor, which is connected to a desired apparatus, such as an opticaldisc apparatus or the like, or built in the desired apparatus, forrecording and reproducing the data of those apparatuses.

As mentioned above, according to the present invention, as for theregion in relation to the secondary defect, the recording means such asthe memory or the like is separately used to carry out the recording andreproducing process. Thus, even if the exchange allocating process iscarried out so as to ensure the access with the high reliability, thedata may be processed continuously.

INDUSTRIAL AVAILABILITY

With regard to the information processing apparatus, the informationprocessing method and the recording medium for recording the informationprocessing method, for example, they may be applied to the magnetic discapparatus and the optical disc apparatus such as the hard disc apparatusfor recording the video data and the like.

1. An information processing apparatus for converting a parameter of anaccess command into a physical address of an information recordingsurface of a recording medium, and accessing said recording medium inaccordance with the physical address, said information processingapparatus comprising: an exchange allocating processing means fordetecting a region in relation to a secondary defect from saidinformation recording surface, and setting one exchange region to beused for a recording and reproducing process so as to replace saidregion in relation to said secondary defect; wherein a secondary defectlist is detected by a read-write data channel and a servo circuit inaccordance with an access command for carrying out said recording andreproducing process; a defect judgment means for judging said physicaladdress based on said access command by using said physical address ofthe region in relation to said secondary defect as a reference; and anexchanging processing means for carrying out the process according tosaid access command by using a predetermined recording means differentfrom said recording medium, for the region in relation to said secondarydefect among said physical address based on said access command, inaccordance with a judged result by said defect judgment means, wherein aprimary defect is detected at a sector unit of the recording medium andregistered in a primary defect list by said primary defect physicaladdress.
 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,wherein said one exchange region is set on said recording medium, saidexchange allocating processing means re-records data recorded in theregion in relation to said secondary defect in said one exchange region,in the process for setting said one exchange region, and said exchangingprocessing means re-records the data recorded in said one exchangeregion in said predetermined recording means, by carrying out such aprocess in advance.
 3. The information processing apparatus according toclaim 2, wherein said process in advance is a process at a time ofstart-up.
 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,wherein said one exchange region is set on said predetermined recordingmeans, and said exchange allocating processing means re-records dataalready recorded in the region in relation to said secondary defect insaid one exchange region.
 5. The information processing apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein said defect judgment means carries out aprocess in advance to reproduce records in the process carried out bythe exchange allocating processing means from said recording medium, andto obtain said physical address of the region in relation to saidsecondary defect.
 6. The information processing apparatus according toclaim 5, wherein said process in advance is a process at a time ofstart-up.
 7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,wherein said defect judgment means lists and stores said physicaladdress of the region in relation to said secondary defect.
 8. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein saiddefect judgment means lists and stores said physical address of theregion in relation to said secondary defect at a file unit.
 9. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said oneexchange region is set on said recording medium, said exchangeallocating processing means re-records data already recorded in theregion in relation to said secondary defect in said one exchange region,in the process for setting said one exchange region, and said exchangingprocessing means carries out a process in advance to re-records the dataalready recorded in said one exchange region in said predeterminedrecording means.
 10. The information processing apparatus according toclaim 9, wherein said process in advance is a process before starting anaccess to a file specified by a read command.
 11. The informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said one exchangeregion is set on said predetermined recording means, and said exchangeallocating processing means re-records data already recorded in theregion in relation to said secondary defect in said one exchange region.12. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, whereinsaid defect judgment means carries out the process in advance, andreproduces the record in the process carried out by the exchangeallocating processing means from said recording medium, and then obtainssaid physical address of the region in relation to said secondarydefect.
 13. The information processing apparatus according to claim 12,wherein said process in advance is a process before starting an accessto a file specified by a read command.
 14. An information processingmethod of converting a parameter of an access command into a physicaladdress of an information recording surface of a recording medium, andaccessing said recording medium in accordance with the physical address,the information processing method comprising the steps of: allocatingprocess for detecting a region in relation to a secondary defect fromsaid information recording surface, and setting one exchange region tobe used for a recording and reproducing process so as to replace theregion in relation to said secondary defect; wherein a secondary defectlist is detected by a read-write data channel and a servo circuit inaccordance with an access command for carrying out said recording andreproducing process; judging said physical address based on said accesscommand, by using said physical address of the region in relation tosaid secondary defect as a reference; and carrying out the processaccording to said access command by using a predetermined recordingmeans different from said recording medium, for the region in relationto said secondary defect among said physical address based on saidaccess command, in accordance with a judged result by said defectjudging step, wherein a primary defect is detected at a sector unit ofthe recording medium and registered in a primary defect list by saidprimary defect physical address.
 15. The information processing methodaccording to claim 14, wherein said one exchange region is set on saidrecording medium, a step of said exchange allocating process re-recordsdata already recorded in the region in relation to said secondary defectin said one exchange region, in the process for setting said oneexchange region, and a step of said exchanging process carries out aprocess in advance to re-record the data already recorded in said oneexchange region in said predetermined recording means.
 16. Theinformation processing method according to claim 14, wherein said oneexchange region is set on said predetermined recording means, and a stepof said exchange allocating process re-records data already recorded inthe region in relation to said secondary defect in said one exchangeregion.
 17. A recording medium for recording an information processingmethod of converting a parameter of an access command into a physicaladdress of an information recording surface of a recording medium, andaccessing said recording medium in accordance with the physical addresssaid information processing method comprising the steps of: detecting aregion in relation to a secondary defect from said information recordingsurface, and setting one exchange region to be used for a recording andreproducing process so as to replace the region in relation to saidsecondary defect; wherein a secondary defect list is detected by aread-write data channel and a servo circuit in accordance with an accesscommand for carrying out said recording and reproducing process; judgingsaid physical address based on said access command, by using saidphysical address of the region in relation to said secondary defect as areference; and carrying out the process according to said access commandby using a predetermined recording means different from said recordingmedium, for the region in relation to said secondary defect among saidphysical address based on said access command, in accordance with ajudged result by said defect judging step, wherein a primary defect isdetected at a sector unit of the recording medium and registered in aprimary defect list by said primary defect physical address.
 18. Therecording medium for recording an information processing methodaccording to claim 17, wherein said one exchange region is set on saidrecording medium, a step of said exchange allocating process re-recordsdata already recorded in the region in relation to said secondary defectin said one exchange region, in the process for setting said oneexchange region, and a step of said exchanging process carries out aprocess in advance to re-record the data already recorded in said oneexchange region in said predetermined recording means.
 19. The recordingmedium for recording an information processing method according to claim17, wherein said one exchange region is set on said predeterminedrecording means, and a step of said exchange allocating processre-records data already recorded in the region in relation to saidsecondary defect in said one exchange region.